The Atlanta Braves will try to extend their road winning streak when they visit the New York Mets Tuesday for the opener of a quick two-game set at Citi Field.
The Braves have won six in a row on the road and went 6-3 on a recent nine- game homestand, which was capped by Sunday's 2-1 win versus the Washington Nationals. Freddie Freeman and Chris Johnson had an RBI apiece and starting pitcher Julio Teheran threw six scoreless innings for the win. Teheran walked three and struck out five batters.
"(Teheran) didn't have his best stuff today," Braves catcher Gerald Laird said. "He was struggling with the changeup and he didn't have that slider. But he kept making pitches when he needed to."
Craig Kimbrel struck out three and worked around a hit in the ninth for his 39th save, which is tied for the major league lead with Baltimore's Jim Johnson.
Johnson still leads the National League with a .335 batting average and is riding a seven-game hitting streak.
Atlanta is 16 games ahead of the Nationals for the NL East lead and has won 19 of the last 22 contests.
Brandon Beachy gets the call for the Braves Tuesday against the Mets and is 2-0 with a 4.50 earned run average in four starts since his return from Tommy John surgery. Beachy has won back-to-back starts and held Philadelphia to a pair of runs through six innings in last Wednesday's 6-3 win. Atlanta has won all four of the right-hander's starts.
Beachy did not record a decision in his only start against the Mets and allowed four runs in 4 1/3 innings of a 7-5 loss Sept. 18, 2011.
New York is back home for nine straight games and went 5-6 on its recent road trip. The Mets capped the journey with Monday's 6-1 win at Minnesota in a makeup game from a weather-shortened series in April.
Dillon Gee pitched a solid game for the Mets and gave up only an unearned run in 7 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts and one walk.
"He was staying aggressive. His curveball was there, his slider was there, every single pitch," Mets rookie catcher Travis d'Arnaud said of Gee. "He was locating his fastball. He did an outstanding job."
Marlon Byrd homered and scored twice, while Eric Young, Daniel Murphy, Andrew Brown, Wilmer Flores and Omar Quintanilla all had two hits and an RBI.
Zack Wheeler looks to extend New York's three-game home winning streak and draws the start Tuesday. Wheeler fanned 12 batters and allowed one run in six innings of a 4-1 win at San Diego his last time out on Thursday. He did not record a decision and is 5-2 with a 3.43 ERA in 11 starts.
Wheeler, a rookie right-hander, has won both of his starts against the Braves this season to go along with a 2.25 ERA across 12 innings.
Atlanta and New York have split 14 meetings this season.
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